Information emerging from the Presidency has revealed that it is becoming difficult to fully implement the 2012 budget, and that might only be achievable if the government borrows.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement to journalists in Abuja, he said, “I see the current misunderstanding between the members of the NASS and the Federal Government, especially the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as something that is not very healthy and not necessary.
“The Assembly is saying that because money has been budgeted, it ought to be released as per the quarter it is due… Now, this is fiscally unadvisable and no serious manager of nation resources will dispense money in that manner… I want to bring up the fact that there is a budget deficit of over a N1tr in the budget… The implication of which is that some part of the money required to fund the budget will be borrowed.”
Okupe had been asked to explain why it was difficult for the Presidency to implement the budget as passed by the National Assembly. He, however, gave assurance that there was nothing to worry about on the implementation of the budget, saying that government would achieve at least 70 per cent of it before the end of the year.
